Inked souls: Nathuleka
by CrystalRose03
Summary: It was quite a good drawing, for something on the back of a hand done in pen, it even had shading. She tried to think about this instead of the one thought resounding through her head, numbing everything else as it demanded full attention. She had gotten her soulmate mark. Soulmate AU where when you write on your skin, it appears on the skin of your soulmate. Nathanaël and Juleka.
1. Chapter 1

Every person is born with a soulmate, someone that they are internally, eternally bonded to. It's never been figured out why, or how, it still remains one of Science's biggest mysteries, yet it is a part of life. Juleka has never questioned Why, or How, but she never let's herself dwell on that fact too much. Or the topic, really. Soulmates are bound by Ink, some like to say. If you draw on your skin, it will appear on skin of your soulmate. Again, quite a mystery, again, Juleka has never questioned it. She didn't like the topic, and tried to never think about it.

At age ten, her best friend Rose had gotten a mark. The previous day, Rose had drawn a glittery flower on her wrist, then she found a note on her arm. She had squealed, and Juleka had been happy for her friend.

At age twelve, Mylene found a note scribbled on her arm in large, messy handwriting, that she had certainty not written herself. Once she realized what it was, she had screamed and jumped up and down. Juleka had been happy for her friend.

She knew there was nothing unusual about a fourteen year old not having received her mark yet. It wasn't even unheard of to only receive your mark in your twenty's. But that didn't stop the slight jealousy that twisted in her gut. Currently, both her friends were having conversations with their soulmates, as the three girls sat in her room. They both had smiles on their faces, and Juleka had no intention of interrupting them, it was adorable to watch. No matter how much it hurt. The girls had both left in the next two hours, Juleka keeping a small smile on her face the whole time. As soon as Rose was a safe distance away, the Gothic girl had ran up to her room and broke down. Her face was buried in her pillow as she sobbed on her bed. She wasn't a very affectionate person, and had been shy since she was born, but every time any of her friends gushed about their soulmates -which she let them do happily- she couldn't stop that empty pit in her stomach grow. Her friends always apologized, saying that they shouldn't be talking like this until Juleka had got her mark, but she always waved them off, saying that it was fine and that she wasn't into any of that stuff yet. She told herself that maybe her soulmate just didn't write on their skin, after all, she herself didn't. But then again, that was only because she couldn't bare to see any marks on her skin, reminding her of the absence of her soulmate. After having a good cry, she took her sketch pad from under the bed and began drawing. She smiled as she looked down at the amateurly drawn arm, with two sentences, in different handwriting.

It was the middle of class, the teacher was talking about something Science related. Juleka wasn't paying attention, staring into space. She scratched at the itch on the back of her hand subconsciously. But it didn't go away. She frowned slightly as she focused on her hand. Actually, it wasn't really an itch, more like a tingling feeling, beneath her skin. She ignored it and tried to get an idea of what the teacher was saying, gently rubbing at her hand beneath her fingerless glove. After a moment she couldn't ignore it. She curiously tugged off her glove. What she saw made her stop breathing. She felt her entire body freeze as she stared down at the her hand. There, was a sketch of a bag. She stared at it puzzled. Upon closer inspection, it was a really detailed bag, a schoolbag, slouching against something. It was quite a good drawing, for something on the back of a hand done in pen, it even had shading. She tried to think about this instead of the one thought resounding through her head, numbing everything else as it demanded full attention. _She had gotten her soulmate mark_.

This soulmate of hers was quite the artist. Throughout the day, there had been more installments on her arm, she watched in awe as she watched a tree being appearing, each leaf being drawn seperately. She had pulled down her sleeves, hiding the marks, peeking at them occasionally, and after a few times she noticed a smile on her face. Then there was a hand in front of her face. She jumped. Rose was staring at her closely, having just clicked her fingers to break her friend from her reverie.

"You okay, Jul?". Juleka smiled. Yes. She was fine. She was great.

"Mm-hmm. I'm fine". She let the smile that had wanted to break free every time she thought about her arm free. Rose scanned her face and lingered on her smile.

"You sure? You've seemed out of it all day". Juleka nodded, with a smile, again.

"What's up with you? You're all... _smiley_ ". She pushed the smile down.

"Is there something wrong with me smiling?" She was seriously puzzled.

"No, of course not, but you're _you_ , you don't _usually_ have to fight down a smile". Then she couldn't help it, she opened her mouth to reply, but a bubbly laugh came out. She couldn't hold back her smile anymore, and let it stay there. Rose's eyes widened the smallest fraction. She held the back of her hand up to the black haired girl's forehead. That bubbly laugh broke out again as she lowered Rose's hand. Rose just stared at her friend bewildered.

"What happened to you?!". Her smile grew.

"Nothing. I'm just having a good day"

"But it's Tuesday. Tuesday's are your least favourite day of the week!"

"Well, today's an irregular Tuesday"

"Juleka! Why won't you tell me what happened?"

"Because _nothing_ happened! I just woke up in a good mood!". Rose glared at her and she laughed, again. She just shrugged while smiling at her friend. She was staring at Rose innocently, even managing to fight down her smile a bit. And then she felt that tingling under the skin on her arm and she turned around, humming to herself as she walked away, leaving Rose stunned, frozen to the spot. Just as she was about to turn the corner, she glanced back at her friend, seeing her in the exact same position. And for the fourth time, she let a laugh pass through her lips.

 **A/N: I'm just experimenting with an idea I had. There really isn't enough of this ship out there. Please review, I want to know your thoughts.** _ **-Crys**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Juleka was elated. Yes, she didn't know Who, or anything about her soulmate, apart from a good chance they're good at art, but that didn't really matter right now, because she finally got her first soulmate mark. Even with her mood, she couldn't bring herself to write anything for them to see, or even an 'accident', for them to realize too. So now, she lay on her bed, homework forgotten, as she traced over the lines with her fingers. They must have drawn these themselves, judging by the angle, so that meant they were definitely good at art. She hummed to herself, picturing them in her mind. She had never really thought about it before, would it be a he or a she? She didn't mind, presumably they felt the same. Would they be taller or shorter than her? Eye colour? Hair colour? Hair length? Shoe size? Style? Favourite subject? Favourite colour? Music? She realized that she didn't mind what the answer to those questions were, not really. What was more important was their personality, were they loud or quiet? Which would she prefer?

She plugged in her headphones and tapped on her playlist. Her eyes closed and she rolled onto her back, sprawled out on her bed. Her sleeve was all the way rolled up so she could see all the art covering most of her arm. It looked like she had some bizarre tattoo, but she liked it. Still tracing along the lines with her finger, she turned up the music and let it surround her. She was almost asleep before she felt a tingling under her skin just above her knee. She laughed at the realization that they ran out of room on their arm, they must have forgotten their sketch pad. She sat up nonetheless and watched a sketch of a vase start to form on her skin with a fond smile.

Rose was staring at her as she walked into class. She hadn't even bothered to try and wash off all the sketches, choosing instead to wear a light, long sleeved top and tights under her skirt. It wasn't that different to what she usually wore, so she didn't think it was a big deal. Just as she opened her mouth, Rose spoke

"You're still smiling. Juleka, you are _still smiling_ ". What was going to be a greeting turned into a laugh. Rose stared at her dark haired friend like she had grown two heads. Without another word, she stood up and walked over to where Alya and Marinette stood talking. She grabbed onto Marinette's shoulders, Mari lifted a hand as if about to wave, before,

"HELP ME!", she stared down at the short blonde who was shaking her with a deranged look in her eye. This caught the attention of the entire class.

"Ummm... With what, exactly?" She answered weakly.

"WITH HER! THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH HER!" the blonde shrieked, pointing an accusatory hand at Juleka. The entire class turned to look at Juleka. For once, Juleka didn't seem to notice all the attention, she looked at Rose who was still pointing at her, and she burst out laughing, and she kept laughing. At first everyone was looking at her out of curiosity, but now everyone was staring at her because they couldn't take their eyes off her. She didn't care. She laughed again. She finally took a deep breathe and stopped, opening her eyes. She was met with a lot of set of eyes, plenty of emotions running through them, shock, surprise, confusion, worry, even unsettlement and _fear_. The Goth held down a laugh and smiled at everyone instead. It was completely silent, not even Chloé could say anything. Juleka stood there, completely at ease, carefree, with a smile on her face in the middle of the classroom, leaning against -not even her own- table, with every eye in the place focused solely on her.

"You see? _YOU SEE?!_ " Rose cried, with a wild look in her eye. Still no one else spoke or moved. Juleka barely thought it through before raising one hand in a peace sign and grinning. This seemed to stun them even more. This was _Juleka_. She still stood there for a bit, glancing from face to face, before shrugging and sitting down, pulling out a sketch pad and began drawing. _Did Juleka even draw?!_ This was too weird. She blocked out her classmates, focusing on the page, while she was a drawing a smile came onto her face, she almost let out a giggle. Of course, the entire class saw this. Most of them -no, _all_ \- jumped as the door opened and the teacher walked in. They may have jumped, but they didn't move. Not even Adrien or Max moved or acknowledged the teacher, still staring at Juleka stunned. She cleared her throat. Nothing. Looking around, everyone seemed to be looking at Juleka, who was calmly... _drawing_..? She looked around the room puzzled.

"Juleka?" She asked. The girl looked up at her,

"Good morning, Madame", she said before going back to her drawing. She cleared her throat again. Nothing. At all. She sighed and lifted her books up, dropping them on the table, this made people turn around. She looked around relieved.

"Well, _glad_ that I now have your attention, can we begin?", it wasn't a question of course, but some students had the decency to look sheepish and nod, while others just sat down and took out their tablets, still sneaking glanced at the seemingly unbothered Juleka.

Of course she noticed all the looks, she just didn't pay attention to them. She missed the feeling of watching sketches appear on her skin, evedently her soulmate remembered whatever they usually draw on today. Under the table, she lifted up her glove and smiled down at the bag still present, although pretty faded already. Maybe she should write back? _NO!_ Her mind screamed in reply. She pulled back down her glove and went back to listening to the teacher.

Rose marched over to her friend, dragging Marinette and Alya with her.

"Juleka, tell me what's up with you". In return she just got an easy smile. She sighed and walked behind the two girls, pushing them forward.

"Rose, maybe she really did just wake up happy. Sometimes _I_ wake up happy for no reason", Marinette said. Rose shook her head.

"But that's you. You _do_ that, this one doesn't. And it's been _two_ days, _in a row_ ". Marinette sighed, then turned back to Juleka, who had an amused twinkle in her eye.

"Please, _please_ just tell her why your acting different. She won't leave us alone ". Juleka grinned.

"There's no reason, honest! It's just one of those things", she answered with a shrug. Alya rolled her eyes.

" Yeah, yeah. And tomorrow I won't touch my phone at all. Just tell her, if not us, or just tell _someone_ ". She just shook her head. Marinette squinted her eyes, and then grabbed her hand, her breath hitched in the throat. Marinette raised on eyebrow, and then it dawned on her.

"Oh my God!". Juleka widened her eyes giving her a pleading look, which was ignored. Instead, she was dragged around the corner.

"Oh my God" Mari breathed out. She tugged Juleka's sleeves up, and smiled down at them.

"Your kidding. Why didn't you tell us!",

" I just felt like drawing on my arm", she tried. Marinette shook her head and dragged her to the bathroom. She wet a tissue and gently rubbed at the Goth's skin. When nothing happened, she gave her a satisfied smirk.

"I knew it". Juleka sighed and rolled her sleeve up the whole way, took off her glove and pulled down her tights. Marinette examined the numerous drawings covering her skin with a smile.

"This is so exciting!". Once her tights were pulled back up and sleeves rolled down, Marinette dragged her back out, running back around to the two waiting girls. As she ran around the corner, still clutching the exasperated Goth, she slammed into someone, knocking both of them over and of course dragging Juleka down with her. She sighed and pried Marinette's hand off her own, glaring at the girl.

"S-sorry..", they both turned to the red haired boy sprawled on the ground. Nathanaël picked up his books and stood, hiding his face behind his hair. He hesitantly offered a hand to the girl on the floor. Marinette took it, about to stand up, and then she gasped.

"Juleka.." She whispered. The dark haired girl turned to ask her what, when she saw it, and froze. The confused boy looked from one girl to the other, face turning slightly red,

"W-what?". He let out a tiny yelp as Marinette gripped his hand, pulling it down to examine it. He stared at her and then at Juleka, seeing that she was staring at his hand as well. And then there was a high-pitched squeal. Nathanaël and Juleka flinched.

"Oh my God! _Juleka_!". The embarrassed boy looked to Juleka for an explanation, but she was still staring at his hand wide eyed. Marinette jumped up and began pushing up his sleeve.

"Hey!" He muttered, bemused, Marinette squealed again

"Do you know what this means?!", she got no reply from Juleka, who was staring along his arm. He was getting really uncomfortable.

"What? That I draw?". Marinette shook her head giddily. He looked between the girls, neither answering his unasked question.

" _What?_ Why are you staring at me like that?". In answer, Marinette turned to the girl and grabbed her arm, Juleka looked at her with terrified, pleading eyes. Marinette smirked at her. He was so confused. He was about to speak again when Marinette shoved Juleka's sleeve up to her elbow. She grabbed her arm and held it out next to Nathanaël's. Both teens stared down at the identical drawings, and then back up at each other. They stared into each other's eyes, both completely stunned. Meanwhile Marinette ran off squealing and shouting out Alya and Rose's names.

 **A/N: Thus, the confrontation. I haven't exactly decided how that's going to go yet. Please review, I want to know your thoughts.** _ **-Crys**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Once what just happened finally sunk in, Juleka blushed furiously. Seeing this, Nathanaël's face copied the gesture. His mouth opened and then closed, lost for words. They both felt the need to say something, _but what do you say in this situation?!_ Her internal war died down as she glanced just past Nathanaël's head, to the three girls with their faces peeking around the corner. Marinette looked as giddy as before, Alya had a smirk on her face and Rose looked like Christmas came early, she was always a hopeless romantic, and that added to the situation and she was trying _so_ hard not to squeal and jump up and down repeatedly. The red-haired boy noticed where she was looking and turned around. Once he saw the three girls his blush increased and he his behind his hair. Juleka stared between the girls and Nathanaël and sighed. She gently took his hand and when his looked to her startled she indicated with her head a different direction,

"Maybe we should talk..." She tried to sound so much more confident than she felt and knew her face was heating up. He averted his gaze and meakly , just barely, nodded. She almost sagged in relief and started walking towards the park. When they were there, she looked around, then stopped and turned, hesitantly leaning against the tree. In that moment she realized that her hand was still loosely wrapped around his and pulled it back, staring at the ground. Neither spoke, or looked at each other for a while. Feeling uncomfortable, zjuleka sat down on the ground, and was relieved when he followed. She couldn't bring herself to speak, and it seemed he was having the same dilemma. A thought crossed her mind, and she glanced up at him, before hesitantly taking a pen out of her pocket. He didn't seem to notice. She debated whast to do, and nervously wrote on her arm slowly. He looked down at his arm slowly, and watched in amazement as the Goth's elegantly curved handwriting appeared on his arm. His mouth twitched, like he wanted to smile when he read the ' _I'm sorry, Marinette gets like that_ ' now on his arm. He timidly brought out his own pen and just under it wrote, ' _I got that. Guess it could have been worse..._ ' , she looked up at him surprised and then grinned, ' _You should be grateful I'm not Chloé_ ', it took a minute, but she swore she saw a smile appear on his face, ' _I really should_ ', she pretended to raise an eyebrow, ' _Excuse me, are you saying you're_ not _?_ ', she suppressed a triumphant smile as she saw a ghost of a smirk cross his features, ' _Well, you're not exactly a famous, world reknown artist, now, are you?_ ', she could imagine his teasing voice as she read it, trying not to giggle, ' _You realize I could leave you here, alone, and without a soulmate for all eternity_ ', butterflies erupted in her stomach as she wrote that word, finally accepting it, making it official, with a grin she noticed his blush reappear, and knew he would be stuttering if they were talking. ' _You wouldn't_ ', ' _Oh?_ ', " _I'm just too irresistible_ '. She finally left the building-up laughter fly out of her mouth. Nathanaël blushed as he thought that her laugh was the most beautiful sound in the world. He smiled at her, most of the awkwardness and nervousness fading away. ' _Are you sure? Because I think you're just looking for an excuse because you can't pass up on this gorgeous Goddess_ '. He blushed.

"No. I can't ", it was the tiniest whisper, but she caught it, and her face set on fire. He timidly looked into her eyes, and she found herself looking back into his.

"Don't say lies like that", she muttered, looking away. She snapped her head back up to look at him when he took both her hands in his. He had a strange expression in his eye.

"Juleka, it's not a lie. I've always known you were beautiful, and you better know that as well, because it's the truth. And not only am I grateful, I am _lucky_. Lucky to have someone as amazing as you. And I'm hoping you'll have me". She stared into his eyes, speechless, she knew he meant it, every word. She couldn't reply, couldn't express herself in words. But then, they had always found ways around words. She didn't realize that she had been leaning in, didn't comprehend the nervous blush on Nathanaël's cheeks at their proximity, but she closed the gap, and pressed her lips against his.

She could feel his heart beat, thumping eraticly in unison with her own. She felt him stiffen at the contact, but relax into it, she felt a few of his hairs brush against her face, in that moment, she was aware of everything about him. She slowly pulled back blushing, and he stared back at with astonished eyes. She nervously smiled at him, letting her hair slide over her face. He reached out and gently pushed it back, his fingers leaving a tingling sensation across her cheek. Her breath caught in her throat and they once again gazed into each others eyes. She noticed and memorized all the different shades in his eyes. He scanned every detail of the orbs he was looking into, knowing he would be drawing them later. He gave her an adorable grin, and she returned it with one of her own

They wandered back in through the school gates, and Rose rushed up to them. Marinette followed, bursting with excitement, and Alya trailed behind, arms crossed and a knowing smirk on her face.

"You don't mind if we borrow her for a moment, do you Nathanaël'?" She asked with a sly grin. Pink dusted their cheeks and their eyes met before Rose dragged her friend away. Leaving Nathanaël' standing there on his own. Not that he minded. A fond smile crept onto his face as he sat down and opened his sketchbook, taking out his pencil and immediately letting it fly across the page.

"Every detail" Alya demanded, reporter side coming out. Juleka shook her head.

"Oh come on! What happened! _Please_?", she shook her head again.

"Did you kiss!?" Marinette exclaimed, noticing the immidate blush, she squealed.

"No way!"

"So cute!"

"What was it like?"

"Who kissed who?!"

"Was it romantic?"

"What did you say? What did _he_ say?"

Juleka stopped any more questions with a shrug.

"I guess I'm not the type to kiss and tell", and with that she got up and wandered off, leaving the three girls behind.

"Did she just admit they kissed?!" Came an exited voice from behind her. She just started humming and went to class

After the lesson, she went to her locker to get her books. When she opened it, she saw a page carefully ripped from a sketchpad, she held it up to look at it. It was her. A drawing of her eyes. She could see her emotions reflected in them, she could see the detail that made them come to life. She could see the effort put into it, the concentration. And once again, they had found a way to communicate without words, because she could clearly see one emotion shining through, and she knew he made it that way, because she understood, what was said without words. She knew her face was bright with a smile, she knew that emotion was in her eyes at the moment, she knew that Rose was probably staring at her with interest from across the hall, not that she cared.

Because that emotion was Love.

 **THE END**

 **A/N: I'm finished, guys, and I'm smiling like I'm insane right now, because I loved writing this. What to you think? Tell me if you liked it. Please review, I want to know your thoughts.** _ **-Crys**_


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